One Cat Leads To More
by pandorabox82
Summary: Penelope wakes up to find that Erin has disappeared on her. But what she brings home makes her overjoyed that they chose each other.


Penelope woke up feeling cold and alone. Which was distinctly wrong, because she hadn't woken up alone in the year since she had moved in with her current partner. That had been something she had been quite insistent on, especially since she knew that she wouldn't ask for that herself. Penelope had always been the bolder of them, which had surprised her, since Erin had always been so fierce dealing with the BAU.

Frowning a little, she slipped out of bed and into the dressing gown that Erin had gotten her for her birthday, reveling in the softness of the silk against her bare arms. The first place that she checked for her missing partner was in the bathroom, thinking that she had just gotten up to pee before returning to bed, but she wasn't there, and Penelope stomped her foot a little in irritation before heading back into the bedroom and picking up her phone, checking to see if Erin had messaged her. A breath of relief slipped out of her lips when she saw her words on the screen. _I had an early morning errand to run, Profiterole. I'll be home around eleven._

Penelope glanced up at the time and saw that she still have two hours to fill before Erin arrived home, and she sent off a quick reply. _Take your time, Eierscheke. I'll keep the home fires burning until you get back. I love you!_ She pressed send before heading down to the kitchen and making herself breakfast. To her surprise, she found a bowl of cut strawberries in the fridge, and she pulled them out along with the container of vanilla yoghurt, setting them on the counter so that she could grab a bowl and the granola, making herself a quick parfait before heading into the living room and cuing up Netflix to continue binging _Frasier_.

She was just finishing up the sixth episode in a row when she heard the door to the house open, and she grinned as she sat up a little straighter, wondering how long it would be until she heard her beloved come into the living room. "Penelope?" Erin called out, and she perked up even more. "Would you come and join me in the kitchen?"

She paused the current episode and got to her feet, bringing her bowl with her, so that she wouldn't have to make another trip. "Where were you?" she asked, not really seeing Erin as she went over to the sink and rinsed out her bowl before putting it in the dishwasher. "Eierscheke?"

Turning, she finally took a good look at her partner, seeing the kitten in her arms. "I know that you've been wanting to add a pet to the household for almost as long as you've lived here. Well, it's taken me almost that long to find the perfect kitten for us. I know that you probably wanted to have some input on her, but when the breeder contacted me that they had a kitten that had been returned, since she was a little more rambunctious than they had been hoping for. Della is the perfect Maine Coon kitten, in my opinion, and I hope that you love her as much as I already do."

Erin held the kitten out in her arms, and Penelope took a few steps towards them before reaching out and stroking the kitten's head. "Don't these cats grow to be small panthers?" she asked as she looked into Erin's eyes.

"Yes, but we have the room, and I know that you missed Sergio, once he returned to Emily. But we can always add another cat to the mix, once Della grows accustomed to her surroundings."

"That, my sweet Eierscheke, is stereotypical lesbian behavior. What will your children say about that?" Penelope teased as she took Della from Erin's arms, scratching her under her chin as she winked at her lover. Erin shrugged a little as she stepped into Penelope's space, reaching up to cup her cheek before leaning in and kissing her softly. "What was that for?"

"Just because I love you. Take her up to the guest room, I'll be up shortly with her food." Penelope nodded before kissing Erin once more. "I will be expecting you in three minutes, as we have some good morning kisses to catch up on." Her partner nodded as she turned and went out into the garage. She smiled before turning on her heel and making her way up to the guest room. Upon entering, she gasped a little to see that Erin had completely redecorated it to make it a playground for the kitten, and she set Della on the floor so that she could explore her new surroundings.

"Do you like? As soon as I knew that Della was going to be ours, I had the kids help me convert the room while you were at work."

She looked up at Erin and nodded, taking the bag of kitten food from her hands and pouring it into the empty bowl. "This is perfect, but I don't think I'm going to want to leave anytime soon."

"That's what the divan is for. Join me?"

She nodded and held her hand out to Erin, sighing in pleasure when their hands connected, allowing the woman to tug her over to the divan and they took a seat together. Penelope snuggled up close to Erin, letting her head come to rest on her chest so that she could listen to her heart. "Where did the bed go?"

"In the attic. Bruce mentioned something about wanting to take on the attic as a learning project, for when he has his own home to fix up, turning it into another guest room. I figured that it would be nice, yes?"

"Yeah, and it will give us more room to spread out." Penelope lifted her head and kissed Erin's cheek before nuzzling her cheek against her chest. Della came running up to them, jumping into Penelope's lap, and she winced at the weight that suddenly was pressing onto her torso. "Though this girl is going to need a lot of room to grow, too."

Della purred with pleasure as she started to make biscuits on Penelope's chest, and she tried not to hiss in pain as her claws dug into her skin. "We're not getting her declawed, right? I can clip her nails, or we can get it done at the groomer's, I just don't like the idea of cutting off part of her body just so that our things stay in perfect condition."

"Yeah, no, that will be fine. I clipped Sergio's claws all the time. And Della is the perfect age to grow accustomed to that." Penelope stroked her hand down the kitten's back as she made kissy faces at her. "Won't you, Della?" The kitten looked into her face and yawned before flopping over onto her side and promptly falling asleep. "Well, it looks like we're stuck here for a while, Erin. It wouldn't do to wake up our child."

Erin chuckled a little as she smacked her fingers softly against Penelope's shoulder. "We are not going to be those people who call our pets our furbabies. All right?"

"I suppose." Penelope adjusted her body as much as she could, in order to look up at Erin. Her partner was wearing a soft, sweet, smile, and the expression filled her heart with such joy that she couldn't help but sigh in pleasure as she reached up her free hand and hooked it around Erin's neck, stroking her neck gently as she allowed herself to relax. "Are you going to purr for me, too, Eierscheke?"

"Oh, my sweet Profiterole, I can't do that now, I might wake up Della." Erin glanced down at her, giving her a small wink before puling out her phone. "Though I suppose that I could read to us for a little bit. Since you said that you love listening to me."

"I think that you are describing my perfect Saturday afternoon, Erin." They nodded to each other before Erin picked up from where they had last left off in _And Then There Were None_. After she had read for an hour, Della got up and began to explore her space again, which allowed Penelope to turn and face Erin. "You were born to read Christie's works," she said lowly before capturing her lips in a lingering kiss. As she went to deepen the kiss, their stomachs rumbled in unison, causing them to both burst into giggles before Erin kissed her once more.

"Let's go down and make a late lunch. Unless you want to have something delivered?"

"You know I love making food with you, or did you forget what our nicknames are?" she teased as she got to her feet. Erin shrugged a little as she took hold of Penelope's hand, tugging herself to her feet before pulling Penelope close to her and kissing her again. "And you are super affectionate today as well. I was not expecting this book today."

"I'm just so glad that you didn't mind my hijacking our choice in pets. I promise, you can pick her companion."

"Even if that means we're going to the animal shelter and picking out a mutt of a cat. They need loving homes, too."

"I can completely agree to that." Erin grinned at her, her entire face lighting up with delight, and Penelope let out a small, pleased, sigh as she reached out to stroke her face. "You're the sweetness in my life that I never thought I'd get," she said softly as she reached up to cover Penelope's hand, pressing it tighter to her cheek. "After everything that I went through, after all the pain and heartache of losing David's love, I never thought that I'd get to be a little old lesbian cat woman."

Penelope let out a watery laugh as she shook her head. "You are the farthest thing from old, Erin Strauss. Though you are a lesbian cat lady." Leaning in, she kissed the tip of Erin's nose before taking hold of her hand and leading her from the room, making certain to close the door behind them so that Della would be able to get accustomed to one space before being given free range of the house. "I was thinking that we could invite Alex and James up next weekend? It's been a few months since we were together."

"I would love nothing more than that, Penelope." As soon as they were in the kitchen, Erin boosted herself onto the counter and watched as Penelope pulled food out of the fridge. "It's been a long road, getting back to a normal friendship with her, especially after John and what he tried to do. But I suppose that I have that to thank you for, too."

"Hey, you were the one who labelled me a miracle worker. I just had to live up to that moniker," she shot back, winking at Erin as she began to make sandwiches for them. "So, are you going to be able to keep Della out of the office while you're working on your book?"

Erin flushed guiltily as she looked down at the floor. "You know me far too well, Penelope."

"I should hope so! We've only been a couple for three years now, and living together for one of those years. You get to know a lot about a person when that happens. There's only one step left for us to take, you realise."

"You do not want to marry me. You're a free spirit who doesn't like to be tied down."

"Hey, I moved in with you. You're the first partner I've done that for. And I like the stability that being with you provides. I like waking up next to your warmth every morning. Though I did not like missing that this morning, let me tell you."

"It was the only time I could pick Della up!"

"I know that now, but I still missed you. Me! Missed her partner! You've changed me, not for the better, necessarily, but into a different version of myself. And I love who I am with you. Because I love you." Moving over to her side, Penelope cupped her face with her hands and looked deep into her eyes. "I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love you, because I haven't discovered a limit or a depth yet, and I don't think that I ever will. I don't have a ring yet, because I never thought that I would be saying this on today, of all days, but will you marry me, Erin?"

There was a brief pause and Penelope felt her heart constrict tightly as it dropped into the pit of her stomach. "Yes," Erin finally breathed out before resting her forehead against Penelope's, breathing in deeply as she closed her eyes. "If you want to tether yourself to the mess that I am, I will not deny you that privilege. Because I love you to the moon and beyond. You have completed a part of me that I didn't know needed completion. And if you tell Lexie that, she is going to tease me for a thousand days, so please, keep that to yourself."

"I'll try to remember that, yes. But did you really tell me yes? You will marry me?"

Erin nodded as she draped her arms over Penelope's shoulder, pulling her closer to her body before reaching up to bury her fingers in her hair, tugging lightly. "I will marry you, and it will be my last marriage, and we will be happy cat ladies until the day I die." She tilted her head just so, and caressed Penelope's lips with her own. There was something so sweet about the way her fiancée's lips tasted, and Penelope couldn't wait to buy the perfect ring to symbolize the depths and breadths of their love, to show to everyone just how much Erin meant to her. "And now, let's eat so that I can sate a very different sort of hunger. After all, what better way to seal our promise to each other than by communing together in physical pleasure?" The purr in Erin's voice sent shivers down Penelope's spine, and she nodded slowly as they took a seat at the table, sweet anticipation filling the air between them as they ate and planned for their future together.


End file.
